Of Circus Tricks and Courageous Acts
by Grasspaw
Summary: Well, Jinora can certainly say that letting Korra drag her to the city was a bad idea. Now she's horribly lost, with only a highly annoying orphan named Skoochy to take her - in a very roundabout way - back home.


**So, um... yeah. I'm a huge Jinora/Skoochy FRIENDSHIP fan. I mean, maybe if they weren't ten and twelve - actually, definitely if they weren't ten and twelve - I'd ship them as a couple. However, as they ARE ten and twelve, I have them being friends. Because it's inevitible that they meet, really, so... Yeah. I own nothing.**

Jinora dropped onto a bench, rested her chin in her hands, and stared at the ground while fighting back tears. Her feet ached, her head hurt, and she was hot and dirty and tired and utterly lost.

She sniffed and scuffed the ground, tears blurring her vision. She tried to do things in the usual Jinora style and take stock of her current situation, but it didn't really work. _I'm lost. Really lost. Actually, I could be on the other side of the city and wouldn't know it. Maybe I am. Okay, so I'm lost. I don't know where Korra, Ikki, Meelo, Bolin, _or_ Mako are. My parents don't even know I'm in the city. My head is _killing_ me._

She sniffed and wiped at her nose with her sleeve.

"Hey, kid, what's wrong?"

She sniffed again and looked up to see a boy a few years older than her standing there, his hands in his pockets. His clothes were scruffy and old, and a beat up cap covered his dirty black hair.

"I'm lost," she muttered.

"You get separated from your parents?" he asked, giving her an look that she didn't understand. He was looking at her the same way the weirdo that wanted to buy Oogi had looked at the sky bison; it was almost as though he was trying to decide how much she was worth.

Jinora shifted uncomfortably. "Well, sort of... I was supposed to stay at home, but my younger siblings really wanted to meet the rest of Korra's team."

"So you got separated from this Korra person," the kid concluded.

"Yes."

He stuck out a hand, and she shook it uncertainly, ignoring the dirt on his hands. She couldn't really look much better at this point.

"I'm Skoochy."

"I'm Jinora." She hesitated a moment, and then asked, "So, um, where am I exactly?"

He looked amazed she had even had to ask. "Central City Station! You're really not from around here, are you?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "No, I'm not. I live on Air Temple Island." She let her arms fall limply to her side. "But I have no idea how to get back."

"Huh." Skoochy rubbed the back of his neck. "You got any yuans? I'll get you to the ferry for two."

She searched her pockets. "Um, no. But my dad will pay you back! Or my mom, or one of the members of the White Lotus." He shrugged.

"Good enough. Hey, you guys!" he hollered to a group of equally dirty children playing a little ways away, cupping his hands around his mouth. "I gotta go! Be back later." They waved and continued their game. Skoochy grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on."

She stumbled slightly, tears pricking behind her eyes, but she set her lips determinedly and followed Skoochy.

They walked in silence for a few moments until Jinora felt the need to ask, "So where are _your_parents?"

Skoochy jumped over a pile of boxes lying on the sidewalk, then turned and held out his hand to help her over. "I don't have any," he said carelessly.

Her eyes widened. He was an orphan? "That's terrible! I'm so sorry." The mere thought of not having a mother and a father horrified her. Skoochy shrugged and, letting go of her hand, kept walking.

"It's no big deal. I don't need any."

Her jaw dropped. "How can you say that? You might make your parents' spirits angry!"

"Pfft. It's the truth. Are the spirits gonna get onto me for being honest? Besides, I doubt my parents can hear us. They'd probably get kicked out of the spirit world." He yawned and sloshed right through a mud puddle; Jinora stepped around it and stared at him in shock. Would she be struck by lightning for interacting with this irreverent boy? "Aw, don't look so shocked. You'd feel the same if you'd met my lovely folks.

Jinora was puzzled. "But if they were lovely, then why do you dislike them so much?"

Skoochy laughed. "You're funny, Nora."

She frowned. "It's _Ji_nora, not Nora."

"Right, Nora. You must be really sheltered, huh?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I suppose that is true."

He gave her an odd look. "You talk weird. How old are you?"

"I'm almost eleven, and I don't 'talk weird.' I speak correctly," she added primly. Skoochy snickered again.

"Baby. I'm twelve, and I talk like a human being."

"I'm a human being!" she said, so wrapped up in the conversation she didn't even notice as she, too, stepped right into a large puddle.

"Yeah, but you sure don't talk like one. You talk like some weirdo from a book." He was deliberately poking fun at her, so Jinora counted to ten before she answered calmly, "That's because I read a lot of books."

"Oh," Skoochy said, sounding subdued. "I- woah!" They had a distant view of a large park, where she could a huge purple and yellow striped tent surrounded by several smaller ones. "You okay with a detour, kid?"

"Stop calling me that! And, well... Okay." She couldn't resist the urge to go watch. She'd never been to a real circus before, though she had read all about them. Skoochy started running, and Jinora had to go at an all-out sprint to keep up with him, his legs were so much longer than hers. They finally reached the park, panting and out of breath, and Skoochy walked boldly up to the entrance flap of the front tent. A large, burly man with a handlebar mustache and a heavy scowl barred their way.

"Tickets?" he asked roughly, and Jinora shot Skoochy a look. He seemed annoyed.

"Really? You just let us in ten minutes ago! Our parents are waiting inside, they have our tickets."

"Why'd you leave the tent in the first place?" the man asked suspiciously.

"Because _someone_ couldn't hold it and Mom wouldn't let her go to the bathroom by herself," Skoochy said, throwing Jinora a contemptuous look that made her scowl, though she was confused. Why was he lying to the man? Why couldn't they just go buy tickets? And they certainly were _not_brother and sister.

"Ten minutes ago, eh? What part was the show at, then?"

Skoochy hesitated. "The... juggling platypus-bears?" he asked, though the resigned note in his voice said he knew he had lost. The man let out a short bark of laughter.

"Get outta here, ya dirty street rats." Jinora's head whipped up and she opened her mouth to reply that she was most definitely not a street rat, but Skoochy grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"This way," he hissed. "We'll sneak in the back."

"Sneak in?" Jinora gasped. "But isn't that the same as stealing?"

"Nah. There's just two of us. They'll never notice." He led her around to the back of the tent. "Come on. Under here." She hesitated, and he rolled his eyes. "Come on, Nora, just get under there. Or are you too scared?"

She crawled under the fabric and found herself underneath a large set of stands. Skoochy followed her.

"This is great!" he shouted over the din of the crowds above them cheering. "Let's get closer!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the frown of the stands, where they could see between the slats in the wood and people's feet. Jinora soon forgot that this was wrong in the excitement of the moment.

She especially loved the animals, but Skoochy's favorite part was the gymnasts and acrobats.

"Did you see those trapeze artists?" he asked in amazement as they left the tent with the crowd, trusting the swarms of people to hide them from the rude man who had tried to keep them out. "It was just like they were flying!"

Jinora scoffed. "Oh, that wasn't anything. I'll show you flying."

"What, can you do tricks like that?" he asked challengingly. "That double loop thing the blond one did?"

"Sure I can!" she said proudly. "Come one- no one's in there now!" Entirely forgetting herself, she darted back inside, Skoochy following her; they hid while the rest of the crowd cleared out, then Jinora ran to the ladder the acrobats had used and began to climb it. Skoochy waited eagerly at the bottom.

"Good thing that net's up," he shouted to her as she got nearer to the top. "That way when you fall you won't get hurt!"

"I'm not _going_to fall!" she called back down, finally reaching the top. She gingerly touched the wooden handle of the swinging-thing that the trapeze artists had used, then, before she lost her courage - oh, goodness, the ground was so very far away - she grabbed onto it and leapt off the platform.

She heard Skoochy shout from below, but she ignored him and sent the next swing flying towards her with a blast of air. This wasn't hard at all! Sure, maybe it was a bit dangerous, and her father would be furious if he knew, but... Well, this would show Skoochy!

He called praise from down below, and she let out a whoop of laughter, deciding that for her big finish she would do that double loop that Skoochy had so admired. When she was halfway through the second loop, however, she heard Skoochy fall silent, and she glanced down at him, lost her balance, and began to tumble towards the earth. She heard people shouting again, but she simply created a ball of air and floated towards the ground gently as a leaf. Skoochy goggled at her as she landed, but someone grabbed her shoulder immediately, and looking up, she saw the burly man from out front standing there, scowling at her. He had one hand on Skoochy's shoulder, too.

"What are you kids doing in here?" he snarled, and Jinora shrank back.

"I... um..."

"We were looking for the bathroom?" Skoochy suggested weakly, trying futilely to wriggle out of the man's grasp.

"I don't buy it. I'm taking you two little sneak thieves to the police!" Skoochy and Jinora shared a horrified look, and without thinking Jinora shot a blast of air at the man's face. Anything to get _away_. He jumped back, shouting profanities, letting go of Skoochy and Jinora. She heard a ripping noise as her red shawl went with him. Skoochy stomped his foot and the man suddenly shot into the air and landed heavily ten feet away; the two children grabbed hands and ran out of the tent.

After several minutes of ducking and weaving between the crowds and stalls set up in the park, they collapsed under a tree, panting. Jinora glanced at Skoochy, and the second their eyes met they started giggling, then both were rolling on the ground and shrieking with laughter. Every so often they would stop laughing, look at each other again, and then start up again. It was just too unbelievable _not_to laugh at.

She realized that Skoochy had finally stopped laughing, so she did her best to stop as well, sitting up to look at him. He took one look at her, let out another hoot, and fell against the tree, tears streaming down his face. Jinora, still giggling, shook his shoulder.

"What's so funny?"

"Your... _hair!_" he gasped out. "It's just... so... a ha ha ha ha ha!"

She frowned and touched her hair. Her half-bun had come undone while she was showing off, and all of her hair was now sticking out in every direction. She assumed she must look rather hilarious, but it was so rude of Skoochy to laugh that she grabbed a handful of grass and began to sprinkle it over his head. When Ikki did this to her she acted like it was the most horrible, immature thing in the world, but the situation seemed to call for it. He shouted and tackled her to the ground, pinning her there with his knees while he tickled her with one hand and sprinkled grass over her face and hair with another. He only let her up when some went into her mouth and she had to spit it out. Then he simply leaned against the tree and smirked at her, much to her annoyance.

She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the rumbling in her stomach. Skoochy surveyed her critically for a moment.

"Okay, so we can pass for brother and sister. Just follow my lead and someone will give us stuff. Okay, kid?"

He stood, but she crossed her legs and frowned up at him. "So... we're going to beg?" Skoochy shrugged.

"Call it that if you want. But it'll get us food, and I'm not in the mood to pick any pockets. Come on!" He grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet, then dived back into the crowd. Jinora was soon too wrapped up in the excitement to pay attention the the fact that _he just said he picked pockets._

He walked up to a stall where a wiry man was selling candied leechi nuts. "Sir?" Skoochy said in a wavering voice quite unlike his usual tone. The man flashed him a lazy smile.

"Ya hungry, kiddo? Three yuans for a cone o' nuts."

Skoochy searched his pockets almost frantically. "I... I don't have any money," he said in a small voice, and the man's smile disappeared.

"Then what are you wastin' my time for? Get lost, ya little beggar!" He shooed them away, but Skoochy stood his ground, looking desperate.

"Please, sir! My sister's hungry. We haven't eaten since yesterday!" The man scoffed.

"That ain't my problem. Go get some money; I'm not just giving away food for free."

"You won't be," said a ringing voice behind them; Skoochy and Jinora turned to see an imposing looking woman with gray hair and fine clothes standing there. "I'll be paying for them. A cone of nuts for each of them." She practically slammed the yuans on the counter, the man silently handed over two paper cones filled with steaming nuts.

"Thank you, ma'am!" Skoochy gasped, taking them and handing Jinora hers; she could barely see over the high counter, much less grab the cone of nuts. He nudged her with her elbow; she looked shyly up at eh woman and mumbled a thank you. The woman's eyes softened.

"You're welcome, dear. Here, I'll get you two some more to eat."

She led them to another stall, where each of them received a waffle cone full of ice cream sprinkled and with bits of fruit, large necklaces with hard candies strung on them, and, at another stall, a wreath of flowers for Jinora's hair. Skoochy thanked her profusely for every single item, though Jinora could do little more than nod and mumble, feeling far too guilty for much else.

"All right, you two, go on and enjoy your treats. And young man, you take care of your sister."

"Yes, ma'am," Skoochy said solemnly. "I will." The woman walked away, and Skoochy grinned at Jinora. "See? How hard was that? I think this has been enough of a detour; let's get you to the ferry. Eat your stuff while we walk."

Jinora nodded and stared at the ground as they made their way to the ferry, finishing her ice cream slowly. She popped a leechi nut into her mouth and chewed it thoughtfully, then said, "I feel bad."

"Why? You eat too much?" Skoochy had already finished his ice cream and nuts, tossing the cone over his shoulder carelessly. "I can finish those for you." She handed over the remainder of her nuts; he tipped back the paper cone and dumped several in his mouth. "Ah... That's the stuff."

"That's not what I meant," she said after another few moments. "We shouldn't have lied to the woman." Skoochy frowned.

"Why not? It got us dinner, didn't it?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then what's the problem?"

"It was _wrong,_" Jinora insisted, frowning at her candy necklace. It didn't look the least bit appetizing now. "She thought we were orphans living on the street, and we aren't."

"I am," Skoochy muttered, shrugging as he finished the last of her nuts.

"But _I'm_not. And we aren't brother and sister, either."

Skoochy stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and scowled at her. "All right, Nora, let me tell you something. I don't what it's like at your home, but on the streets, if you don't eat, you die. And if you can't get food honestly, you steal it, beg for it, or you pick pockets. That's _life_."

"Oh," Jinora said in a small voice. As much as she read books about this sort of thing, she had always assumed that orphans, thieves, and liars belonged just there, in her books and her imagination. But Skoochy was all three, and he was terribly real. "I'm really sorry."

He shrugged and started walking again. "Forget it. It's no big deal."

She disagreed, but didn't say anything. Her feet dragged as they walked; she was exhausted.

"It's only about ten minutes more to the ferry," Skoochy told her after a few minutes; she stifled a groan. Ten more _minutes?_How was she going to last that long?

Her head hung as she walked; she felt too tired to look up or pay the slightest amount of attention to anything that was going on. Therefore, it came as quite a shock when, as they were crossing the street, Skoochy suddenly shoved her to the side; she hit the ground several feet away and he fell half on top of her, his elbow jabbing into her back. She could hear people shouting, a screech of tires, and the honking of Satomobiles; she felt a whoosh of air go by her and screamed, covering her head. Skoochy shouted a dirty word.

People ran towards them, and Skoochy rolled off of her so that he was lying on his back, gasping for breath. Someone helped Jinora to her feet, and she winced and looked down at herself. The knees of her pants were ripped, and her knees were horribly scraped up and covered with bits of gravel; her palms looked the same where she had skidded on the rough ground. Skoochy was grimacing as a man steadied him; he swayed where he stood, gripping his left side with his right hand, but managed to look at her in concern and say steadily enough, "Nora? Y'okay?"

"Yes," she said shakily. "I think so. Are you okay?"

"A little beat up," he said, shrugging the man off. "I know a waterbender; he'll fix me up okay." He kept his hand there as he spoke.

They sat on the curb for the next ten minutes while people rushed around; the driver of the Satomobile that had almost hit them sat on the ground next to his car, his head in his hands; in swerving to avoid them he had crashed into a lamppost, which was now bent over his Satomobile. Skoochy still had a grimace of pain on his face when a young woman walked up to them.

"Hello," she said, kneeling down in front of them and smiling. "Someone told me what you did back there. That was quite courageous, young man." Skoochy looked away, blushing.

"It wasn't really. I didn't think about, just... I dunno." Jinora goggled at him.

"Skoochy! You probably saved my _life!_How is that not courageous?" He grinned shyly at the ground, not looking up at them. The woman smiled warmly.

"She's right, you know. Anyways, I am a waterbender. Would you let me take a look at your wounds?"

Skoochy and Jinora spoke at the same time.

"Him first."

"Her first."

They scowled at each other. "I'm just a little scraped up," Jinora said quickly. "Skoochy's more hurt than I am. Come _on_," she said in exasperation when he opened his mouth to argue. "Mine can wait."

"Fine," he grumbled. The woman's smile softened even more.

"All right. If you could take off your shirt so I could have a better look?"

Jinora averted her eyes, but she could still hear the woman's soft intake of breath. "Oh, my. I don't think your ribs are broken, but it might be fractured. That's quite a bruise." Jinora's gut twisted. This was her fault. Skoochy would still be back at Central City Station if it weren't for her.

She heard Skoochy's sigh of relief and breathed one of her own. "That's the stuff," he breathed. "Man, that feels good."

The woman turned to her; her hands were encased in balls of water that seemed to be glowing slightly. "Just your knees and your hands?" she asked, already gently touching Jinora's knees with the tips of her fingers. Jinora nodded, then a sigh slipped out of her mouth as the pain eased away.

"Oh, that's very nice," she murmured, holding out her hands, palms up, so the woman could heal them. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." The woman glanced to the side, where some policemen had just arrived. Skoochy blanched at the sight of them, and the woman lowered her voice. "Forgive me if I'm speaking out of line, but I don't think you two want to talk to the police?"

Skoochy shook his head vehemently; Jinora just shrugged.

"Then I suggest you two get out of here," the woman said seriously. "Go ahead- no one's looking." Skoochy grabbed Jinora's hand and pulled her to her feet, taking off at a run.

"How come you don't want to talk to the police?" Jinora asked when they were several streets away. Skoochy snatched a candy from her necklace and popped it into his mouth.

"Because," he said slowly, "the police and I aren't the best of friends."

"Why not?"

"They seem to have some issue with me picking pockets," Skoochy said with a careless shrug, absently stealing another one of her candies. Jinora stopped in the middle of the street, staring at him in open-mouthed amazement.

"You pick people's pockets?" she gasped. Skoochy looked around in alarm, then grabbed her wrist and started walking.

"Keep your voice down, would you?" he snarled. "That's not really something I want the general populace to know."

"But you-"

"_Yes,_I pick pockets," he said in exasperation. "No other way to get money, is there?"

"You could get a job!"

"Yeah, right," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm twelve, who's gonna hire a twelve-year-old?"

"True, but..." Jinora trailed off, thinking. It wasn't right, she thought, the picking pockets and begging and sneaking into places, but Skoochy had a point. He was a kid living on the streets, what else was he going to do? It was sort of expected, but still. She looked up, and her eyes widened; she started hopping up and down, waving and shouting at the figure she had just glimpsed through the crowd. "Hey! Hey, Bolin!" She turned excitedly to Skoochy, who was looking at her in confusion and amusement. "That's Bolin! He's Korra's friend... Bolin, over here!"

The young man finally turned towards them, walking through the crowd, his green eyes searching for them. He stood in front of them seconds later, and Jinora could see the worry etched onto his face.

"Skoochy! Just the kid I need. Listen, I'm looking for a little girl; her name's Jinora, she's about this tall, wearing a yellow shirt and pants with a red shawl thing over it; she's got brown hair, and-"

Jinora stared in amazement as Bolin continued to describe her, an incredulous grin spreading across her face. She shared a look with Skoochy, who looked like he might be about to laugh. She started giggling.

"Have you seen her? Korra's about mad she's so upset."

Skoochy stuck his hands in his pockets and drawled out, "Well, I don't know. My eyes have kind of been playing tricks on me, see? I'm not really sure what I've seen and what I haven't." Bolin rolled his eyes, stuck his hand in his pocket, and slapped two yuans into Skoochy's hands. The boy grinned. "Bo, may I introduce Jinora?"

"Hi!" she said brightly, waving at him and giggling. Bolin blinked several times.

"You're not... you can't... but..." Suddenly, he threw back his head and laughed. "What happened?"

Jinora's words tumbled out of her mouth in a way that was extremely unusual for her, but she couldn't help it; she was too excited from all that had happened that day. "I got lost, but then Skoochy said he'd show me to the ferry, but instead we snuck into a circus and got caught, then this really nice woman gave us free food, then we left and I almost got hit by a Satomobile but Skoochy saved my life!"

Bolin blinked some more. "Listen, um... I'm going to go get Korra. Stay here this time, okay?"

He disappeared into the crowd, and Skoochy leaned against the side of a building, yawning again. "It's been a pretty good day, huh, Nora?"

"I said don't call me that," she said, but she smiled anyways and copied his pose. He grinned at her.

"You're okay, you know that?"

"Um... thanks?"

"No prob." He snatched another candy off her necklace, and she scowled at him.

"If you would have eaten yours more slowly then you wouldn't have to take mine," she said, sniffing disdainfully. He grinned at her.

"Yeah, but if you'd eat yours faster there'd be nothing to take," he said, crunching on the orange treat. Jinora laughed, conceded that he had a point, and popped a blue candy into her mouth. At that moment Bolin came tumbling back towards them, Korra - on Naga - at his heels.

"Here she is," the earthbender said, grinning from ear to ear. Korra looked around, dismounting her polar bear dog. When she spoke, she sounded frantic.

"Where? Bolin, don't play tricks on me like that, I really thought-"

"Hi, Korra!" Jinora said, beaming up at her. Korra's jaw went slack.

"No way."

"Yes way," Jinora said complacently. "Have you met Skoochy? He saved my life today."

Korra turned her eyes to the smirking boy. "Hi... Skoochy. Jinora, what _happened?_"

The whole story came out then, and Korra shook her head wonderingly. "Really... How did you even get away from us, anyways? I just turned around and you were gone."

Jinora turned to Skoochy first and explained, "My younger siblings wanted to meet the rest of Korra's team, so she brought us to the city, even though I _told_her that we were supposed to stay home." She turned back to Korra. "Well, remember how Ikki and Meelo ran off to go pet the poodle monkey? You, Bolin, and Mako... Where is Mako, anyways?"

"Probably on the other side of the city looking for you," Bolin said, frowning suddenly. "Korra can tell me what happened later. I'd probably better go track him down; he had to skip his date with Asami and he wasn't too happy about it. See you..." He ran off.

Jinora felt slightly bad about that, so she shouted after Bolin, "Tell him I said I'm sorry he missed his date!" Bolin waved over his shoulder, and, satisfied, Jinora turned back to the Avatar. "Anyways, you, Bolin, and Mako ran off to go catch them, and I was going to stay where I was since I couldn't keep up. But then these three waterbending guys showed up and started causing problems with everyone, shouting and fighting with some of the shop owners-"

"That was probably the Red Monsoons," Skoochy interrupted. "I heard they were causing problems earlier." Korra glanced at him for a moment, then returned her gaze to Jinora.

"And I got scared so I ran off. Then I met Skoochy, and I've already told you what happened after that." Korra shook her head slowly.

"Jinora... That's... Wow." A slow grin spread across Korra's face. "You really snuck into the circus tents?"

"Twice," Jinora said proudly, sticking out her chest. Korra questioned Skoochy - he barely answered, pulling his hat down low over his eyes and staring at the ground.

Korra shook her head when she couldn't get anything out of him. Well, come on. Let's go. You have to get home."

"I have to pay Skoochy," Jinora protested. "I said we'd give him two yuans for taking me back to the ferry."

Skoochy hesitated a moment, then drawled, "Well, I never really did take you to the ferry... So I guess you don't owe me anything." He grinned. "I had a good time today. See you around, kid."

"Don't call me that."

But he just laughed, waved, and ran off. Jinora turned to Korra, a rather foolish smile on her face.

"So I guess we go home now?"

"Yeah," Korra said, turning to hide her own grin. "We go home now."


End file.
